


Dream Short 2

by JustWondering



Series: Dream Stories [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Castles, Disembowelment, Dungeon, Escape, Fear, Harpies, Monsters, Nightmares, Prisoner of War, Supernatural Elements, Wings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-01 16:47:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4027399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustWondering/pseuds/JustWondering
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another vivid dream of mine.<br/>Prompt:<br/>Group of us. Castle. Safety lies across the rooftops, if we can reach the tunnel. We've lost too many already. The Ayies are coming. Others flee, but it's too late for me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ready?

“We only get the one shot at this,” you whisper to the others, then wince at the sound of your voice, harsh and raspy after so many weeks in the damp cells. They don't really need reminding. You all know the stakes are high, but the younger teens look nervous, and you search for the right words to give them hope.

Vina silences you with a look. She has a way of commanding obedience beyond what you'd expect from her sixteen years. You bite your lip and nod. She's not the official leader of the group, but nobody fucks with Vina. Besides, it was her that arranged for the servant boy to steal a key, her that somehow found out the watch schedules. If Vina wants to be in charge, more power to her.

She gathers the twelve of you into a huddle. “She's right,” Vina acknowledges. “This will be our only chance at escape.” Her eyes bore into each captive's face, searching for weaknesses that might bring the team down. “There will be absolutely no talking once we come up from the cells. I'll lead the way, single file, and you will follow in dead silence. When I run, you run. If I stop, you stop. If someone falls...”

She pauses a moment, and your thoughts flash to Kevin. You shake your head almost violently, trying to block out the image of his crumpled form. _He's gone. Focus on the living._

“...you leave them behind. We're too few to throw lives away trying to rescue the injured.” Vina looks sternly from face to face. Amy looks like she's about to protest, but a glare from Vina silences the objection.

“I heard they've got an Ayi,” Daniel pipes up.

“Impossible!” You blurt it out without thinking, then glance to Vina for confirmation. “Nobody's seen one this far north in half a century.” You've lost companions to Ayies before, and the thought that you might be facing one again makes your blood run cold.

“They have two."


	2. Command

“You can't be serious,” you hiss. “We're already going to be trying to sneak past foot soldiers. Now we're supposed to be watching the air as well? How the fuck are we supposed to manage that?”

Vina smiles darkly. “We're not going on the ground,” she answers cryptically. You open your mouth to protest, but she continues before you have the chance. “I'm leading us up to the rooftops. We'll be well out of range of the guards. The route takes us across the ridgeline of the main banquet hall, along the northeast parapet, and onto the landing of the eastern tower. From there, a servants' staircase to the wine cellar leads into an escape tunnel. It's our best shot.” Her finger traces the path on the damp earth floor.

It's good news about the guards, but you're hardly satisfied. “And the Ayies?”

“We'll just have to take our chances. You've fought them before, you know what to expect.”

“That's the problem,” you mutter. You'd been trying to block those memories, with little success. Some little town, just this side of nowhere. You'd been hit hard and taken heavy losses. Half of you had been injured, and six died, including your sergeant. And there'd only been one Ayi, then. It had taken you months to stop seeing her every time you closed your eyes. The night terrors, god. All it would take was a sparrow fluttering overhead to send you into a panic attack. Yes, you knew what to expect from an Ayi. That had been your first command, after your sergeant had fallen, and you'd sworn it would be your last. The look in Vina's eyes was threatening to make you break that vow.

“I'll be leading the group. I want you on rear guard. We don't stop for the fallen, but I'm expecting you not to let anyone fall.”

You swallow, hard, but don't dare voice an objection. Vina's right, really. Nobody else has fought an Ayi before and everyone who should be in command is dead. You may not be the best person for the job, but you're all she's got.

 


	3. Flight

The whisper of bare feet on the stone floor is setting your teeth on edge. Blood is roaring in your ears, adrenaline pumping through your body. Your companions are moving as quietly as Vina had hoped, but your fear is threatening to take over. You let your hand rest briefly on each teen's shoulder as they slip past you out of the cells and into the darkness of a moonless evening. You tell yourself it's for a headcount, but you know deep down you need the reassurance of a human touch to ground yourself. Too soon, the final prisoner is ascending the staircase and you have no choice but to follow.

_Left. Right._ You focus on your footsteps, trying to think of anything but wings and teeth and poison-tipped tails. The girl ahead of you, Amy, is trembling. She's fourteen, too young to be part of this, really, but then the same could be said for any of you. You wish you could reach out and comfort her, but don't dare risk her making a noise. If anyone touched you right now, you'd be screaming before you could stop yourself.

In a moment, you're outside. The first thing you notice is the difference in the quality of the air – the stale dank smell of urine, sweat, and mould has been left behind, replaced with sweet straw, biting wood smoke, and the musky smell of the stables. The sky is dark, the stars barely casting a shadow, and there are no torches lit in the small tower where Vina has led you. You can hardly make out her silhouette, nimbly making her way along the roof of the great hall. A peal of raucous laughter echoes from below, making your heart leap into your throat, but Vina doesn't even pause. The others are following behind her much more hesitantly, some walking and others crawling the length of the rooftop. You move to the narrow window of the tower, offering your arm to the younger teens as they scramble onto the tiles. 

When your turn comes, you can't bring yourself to drop to your hands and knees, even knowing the stability it'd give you. Your neck prickles at the thought of an Ayi swooping down unseen from the sky, plucking you off the roof before you even have time to react. Walking upright is no better, you suppose, considering you're all unarmed and you'd probably fall to your death trying to fight the Ayi off, but at least you'd die standing. 

Your progress along the roofline is glacial. The others are being cautious, placing one foot after another with extreme care, but each moment in the open is filling you with dread. You wish you had a way to hurry the others along, but making a sound would be impossible and you're stuck at the back, exposed. Internally, you're screaming, but you try to return your focus to placing one foot in front of the other. 

_Left._

_Right._

_Left._

At some point, you realize with surprise that you're at the far end of the roof. There's a bit of a bottleneck as Amy waits for Daniel to hurdle a short wall at the top of a tower. At last he clears it, and you give Amy a leg up to help her along. It takes a bit of effort, but a moment later you're up and over the wall, on a landing.

As soon as you make it, you wish you hadn't.

Amy is plastered against the stone wall on the far side of the landing. Her face is white as a sheet, but thankfully she hasn't made a sound. You follow her gaze. Between Amy and the staircase down, baring her teeth threateningly, is an Ayi. 

You freeze. So far, the creature has shown no sign of noticing you. The thought occurs to you to leap back over the wall to the roof, but you instantly dismiss it. Maybe because of Vina's orders. Maybe just because you'd never get away with it. Surely the sudden movement would attract the Ayi's attention.

The three of you remain frozen in a terrifying tableau for a moment, until Amy lets out a tiny squeak of fear. Then everything happens so fast that your memory of events turns into a jumble of images.

The Ayi advances.

Amy has nowhere to go.

You leap forward, despite your fear.

Amy turns to look. The Ayi sees.

You somehow manage to leap at the creature with a flying push kick. The sole of your foot connects with its chest, and it tumbles, off balance, to the edge of the tower.

You grab Amy by the shoulders and hurl her toward the staircase. She stumbles but manages to catch her footing and flee.

That's as long as it takes for the Ayi to recover. In an instant, you're flat on your back on the hard stone floor. 

 

 


	4. Promise

A foot, adorned with four razor-sharp claws, pins you to the stone. The Ayi isn't putting her full weight on you, but already it's hard to breathe – or maybe that's the terror of what's to come, gripping your lungs in a vice grip. The creature's foot rests on you almost idly, her attention focused on the stairwell where you sent Amy tumbling to relative safety.

You're struck by the sudden fear that the others are coming back for you. Vina wouldn't allow that, would she? You're pretty sure she wouldn't, but they don't _know_ the Ayies like you do. They haven't seen the bodies left behind. The shreds of your companions, barely identifiable, spread over the battlefield for you to find.

_Heidi. Peggy. Frank. Who will remember the dead, now that you're among them? Who will find what's left of your remains?_

For some reason, you hope Amy and Daniel won't be the ones stumbling across pieces of you. You don't know why you still ache to protect them, only a year or two younger than you, with almost as much campaign experience. Why should you even care about the others when you're the one lying prone under the Ayi's claws?

The creature turns back to face you, and your stomach drops. Her eyes are almost human, her face beautiful and terrible at once. You're grateful your bowels are empty, because the hunger is rolling off her in waves and you're paralysed with dread. 

She cocks her head at you and you get an odd, tickling sensation in your mind. A sibilant voice echoes in your head.

_Your death has come. There is nothing you can do to stave it off._ The foot on your chest flexes slightly, and a claw pierces your skin as easily as a paddle slips into the water. You gasp loudly before you can stop yourself.  _However,_ the voice continues,  _there is a way you can save your soul, if you are so inclined._

You are dizzy with shock and pain. The blood rushing through your ears is so loud you can barely focus on the Ayi's words. 

_I have need of a vessel. Your body would serve. Promise not to resist me for one day, and I will allow your soul to survive our little encounter. Fight me, and I swear to shred your very essence, until even the memory of you is wiped from the world._

The Ayi looks at you expectantly, and you can only gape at her like a fool. 

_I grow bored, mortal. Either way, you die. If you will not choose, the choice will be made for you._ She shifts her claw again, and it's enough to spur you into action.

“Wait! I...” 

You have no idea what to say. Will you accept her offer to spare your soul? Can an Ayi even be trusted to keep her word? She is looking at you impatiently, and it's too late to weigh the decision. You may come to regret it, but you can't bring yourself to ask for certain destruction.

“I accept. Whatever you need, just don't kill me, please!” You're blabbering, but with luck the Ayi understood your point and won't destroy you.

_Your soul will live. I can promise nothing more._

 


	5. The Mate

Your heart is pounding and your mouth is dry. Your vision blurs as the Ayi crouches over your prone body. Her wings are enormous. They're all you see – they must be fifteen, twenty feet across. She adjusts a foot and your focus shifts to her talons – deadly-looking and sharp, each as wide as your arm.

The Ayi could disembowel you at a single stroke, but instead she carefully grasps your torso in her claws and launches herself into the air. The only warning you get is the rippling of her chest muscles before your head snaps back as she lurches into the sky. Her talons don't break your skin, but they feel like hot knives on your back, and you're grateful not to be looking at the ground as she carries you aloft.

You wonder if the others are above ground yet, whether they can see you up here. You remember that time in the south, looking up to see Heidi in the Ayi's claws. That one hadn't been so careful. The image flashes through your mind, as it's done through your nightmares for months – claws, dripping red, pierced right through her body and emerging from her back. You wonder if it's better or worse to be alive right now in the Ayi's clutches. Worse, probably. You have no idea where she's taking you or what she has planned, but it can't be good. You wish you had the courage to fight, to stand up and say _no, kill me now, I'm not a pawn in your games_ , but fear stops you.

You're no hero. The only reason you fight is that you had no choice. When the army marched through and demanded you join, you took the path of least resistance, like you always do. The last time you came face-to-face with an Ayi, you played dead while she destroyed your companions. You've never been a hero. You probably deserve whatever's coming.

You're shaken from your thoughts when the creature slows and banks on the side of a cliff, at a cave hundreds of feet above the ground. She delicately places you at the mouth of the cave and retreats to the edge, crouching and making herself as small as possible. You've never seen an Ayi behave like this, almost scared, and the thought of what must be waiting in that cave makes you tremble. The Ayi makes a soft chirping noise, and you hear shuffling from inside the cave.

Your eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet, so you're startled into a yelp when  _something_ sniffs at you, right by your ear. The Ayi prostrates herself even lower and allows light to cast on the darker, larger Ayi who is clearly her mate, her tail gland swollen with eggs.

You're paralysed with fear. There are rumours about how Ayies reproduce, but no one has ever observed it and lived to tell the tale. This new dark Ayi seems too heavy to fly – perhaps the smaller one is feeding her. The creature's tongue reaches out and touches your cheek, tasting you. You close your eyes and try not to move. She raises her head and huffs at her mate, a whuffling sound, perhaps of thanks, and you whimper in relief. She doesn't seem intent on killing you.

The Ayi from the battle seems satisfied, stretching her wings and crowing before entering the cave. Without warning, she opens a vicious gash across your belly. You scream then, for the first time since the whole ordeal started. The Ayi silences you by slamming a foot onto your chest, knocking the air from your lungs and simultaneously pinning you to the cave floor. You're seeing stars, and the Ayi's head descends to the hole in your stomach. You're frozen with horror, helpless to do anything but watch as she feeds, rooting around in your belly like a pig in a trough.

As suddenly as it started, it's over. You're gasping in pain and confusion. She can't possibly be full, but it seems like she'll leave you here half-eaten. The Ayi brings her head up to look at her mate, and you watch your own blood drip from her jaws. The urge to vomit hits you, but the creature's foot on your chest makes it impossible. A moment later she removes her claws and nudges your body closer to the dark Ayi. The larger creature sniffs your wound and purrs. Again her tongue darts out, lapping up a single mouthful of blood. Out of nowhere, her tail lashes out and strikes your neck, above your collarbone. Some kind of venom pumps into you, and your world melts into a colourful haze.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based on a dream I had featuring some students of mine. Vina really is this badass. 
> 
> Ayi comes from the Chinese / Taiwanese word 阿姨, meaning auntie. The staff at school are all nicknamed that, so it amused me to think of the evil supernatural creatures as Ayies. They don't really fit in with any mythological creatures I know.


End file.
